chictionary

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Just returned from Santa Fe. Have to admit, while I always have the radar up for good style, the Santa Fe visual can be a bit much. Whether it's on the local folk or the Texans, there's a fondness for major amounts of turquoise and silver. Vaults-full. In earrings. In necklaces. In belts. In hair clips. On hat bands. On shoes—or boots. And worn all at once. But once in awhile you spot a gem in the Southwestern overload. This woman, Rebecca, is one fine example. Spotted her while we were having lunch, and it figures that she knew how to OD on jewelry in just the right way. She's a world traveler, just having moved to NM from Mexico. The provenance of her finery: the top two bangles, with the dangling stones, a local artisan named Lori Schwartz; other pieces a mix of Ecuadoran, Native American and East Indian; a few by Georg Jensen; and a piece her grandmother gave her when she was 17. She admired by big resin and gold-metal studded cuff. It was a jewelry lovefest.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

We've been in three-showers-a-day heat and humidity territory here in NYC on and off over the past few weeks. And the women of NYC have risen to the style occasion of staying chic in 104 degrees. What they've been totally nailing? Mixing their cute little dresses and rompers (which've been out in a major way) with kinda tough accessories. Flat sandals or shooties (if they're sandal-booties combos instead of shoe-booties, are they "sandies" or "bandals"?) are on every cool-girl's feet; love the luggage-brown ones on the girl in the tan linen playsuit spotted at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Big Bambu rooftop sculpture exhibit one Saturday. Also love that her guy is sporting a goes-with color combo. I was impressed with the other chicks here, braving an outdoor concert on the Brooklyn waterfront. It'd hit the mid-90s that day but mercifully the main acts (Grizzly Bear, Band of Horses) came on around sunset, which was spectacular; likewise the breeze that kicked up from the East River, and of course, my stylish fellow New Yorkers.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Eero Saarinen's 1962 terminal for TWA at JFK. A 1970s—I'm guessing '76—Porsche 911 Targa. Both the type of designs that make me stop in my tracks, shake my head in awe and smile at the sheer audacity of such genius creativity. It was a cloudy, grey day when I took the photo of the Saarinen building (if you want to see really fab shots of it, check out (www.greatbuildings.com), which is now JFK's Terminal 5. It was in use by American Airlines until 2001; I'm lucky enough to've been in the building and cruised through those wacky pedestrian tubes, best seen on the left side of this photo, on my way into the actual terminal. Now it's occupied by JetBlue, which is renovating the space to be an entry port for the rest of its wing, the same purpose it served for TWA. Am dying for the reno to happen and to get inside that place again. As for the Targa, they were intro'd in the 1960s as a convertible version of the 911. Yum. And the color? So not for the faint of heart. Then again, the FoH wouldn't be in that car anyway. Love.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Our friends Rob Newton and Kerry Diamond had the courage and imagination to open a new restaurant recently. Seersucker is in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, and it's a modern take on Southern food. The look of the bottles they chose to use as vessels for the fine New York City tap water that arrives at your table is reflective of both the design of the restaurant (greyish walls of reclaimed barn wood) and of Rob's menu: fresh, crisp, minimal—utterly inviting. It's the definition of a perfect neighborhood place, but one worth traveling to.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The weekend was beyond-spectacular, once yardwork was out of the way. Then off to the beach we went -- Surfside on Sunday, Ditch Plains on Monday. Evidence of what was going on at DP is the colorful surfboard wall. And yes, we dove in the water. Temp was between 58 and 60 degrees but in we did go. Not once. Not twice. But three times. Come to think of it, it might've been more. Brain freeze, anyone?!

Monday, May 17, 2010

One of the things I love most about New York: the history that stares at you from its (key word alert) original as opposed to faux-original vintage neon signs and painted storefronts. Three totally outstanding, can't-deny-the-genius examples: Vesuvio Bakery on Prince Street between W. Broadway and Thompson. It now houses the quite adorable Bluebird bakery but had been a much-loved downtown fixture for 89 years when it was taken over by the new owner last year. Just over three and a half blocks east is Fanelli's Cafe. This bar has been around as Fanelli's since 1922 (though it was a bar dating back to 1847). My friend's dad, Robert Fitzpatrick, was a firefighter at the now-defunct neighborhood firehouse and used to hang out there in the 1960s. Finally, on corner of W. 11th St. and Hudson in the West Village, is the White Horse Tavern. It's been on that corner since 1878 or 1880 -- my mom remembers it from growing up around the corner at 312 W. 11th St. from the 1920s to 1940s. It was a longshoreman's bar then, and a place, she said, to be avoided.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Cecele, one of the several great people who make Williamsburg neighborhood spot Beco such a chill hangout, is on a replacement evil eye necklace. This one is a gorgeous blue color, and she customized it with a swag of blue ribbon--I took a closeup shot that didn't turn out great so I promise to reshoot and post it when I see her again. This one came to her via a friend who brought it back from Turkey. Her last one had split in two, which, she told me, is what happens when the evil eye has had its fill of bad vibes. I knew why people wore evil eye charms but I didn't know the eyes really told you when they'd had enough. Cecele hasn't found any in the city that she thinks are great quality, so she gets her abroad. Someone else I know, who wears a rope of them around her neck (she works in a tough joint), loads up on them in India. I don't wear one but I'm reconsidering -- they look really cool; it's just bonus points if they truly do ward off whatever negative stuff you don't want coming your way, right?

Followers

Blog Archive

About Me

I've been a style-obsessive journalist for 20 years. Not s-o as in, fashionista, or as in wanting to know the minutaie of what a designer eats for breakfast every day. Style as in, that un-nameable skill that gives someone a knack for looking like they care in just the right way. Ultimately it comes down to someone who looks like they care about the people and world they're interacting with that day. Like what's around them deserves their respect. I wrote the first interview that ran in the U.S., in my WWD days, with Alexander McQueen, without whom the fashion industry will suffer a huge lack of vision. I did the first interview with John Galliano when he hit these shores. We had breakfast on St. Mark's Place in the East Village, and he got spooked when one of the punks asked him for a cig. OK, the kid was smelly. But he thought he saw a kindred spirit in JG, who was working a pair of Westwood bondage pants. Those creative spirits can't help but inspire. My inspirations are more pedestrian--hey, in NYC, the best city in the world, pedestrian is spectacular--but I like to think still a whole lotta fun.